The Cooperative Extension Service is a nationwide partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state universities throughout the country. In Hawaii, extension agents and specialists are affiliated with the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The extension service functions as the outreach arm of the university. Its mission is to extend science-based information to communities throughout the state.
Whereas most UH-Manoa faculty members are instructors in formal degree programs or researchers, extension “county agents” usually provide community-based outreach at offices in each of the state’s counties. These agriculture extension agents work with flower, fruit and vegetable growers, livestock producers, foresters, nurserymen, landscapers and the gardening public.
The UH Master Gardener program is one of hundreds of similar programs throughout the U.S. The program was founded on volunteers disseminating research-based information they learned in Master Gardener training programs at the local university. It was initially developed as a way of freeing up university extension agents to focus on commercial operations. The first Master Gardener program began more than 40 years ago in Washington state. The program was so popular that it quickly spread to most Land Grant colleges around the country and has since spread into Canada, and recently to South Korea.
Today there are more than 50,000 graduate/volunteers from all walks of life and with varied horticultural backgrounds. Certified Master Gardener volunteers staff booths at county fairs, host plant clinics and plant sales, conduct workshops, develop and maintain community and educational gardens, write advice columns in local newspapers, and operate helplines at county extension offices, answering telephone requests for information by the gardening public.
Beyond their honorable community service, many Master Gardeners also put the valuable horticultural knowledge and acquired skills to work in their professional lives. On the Big Island, Master Gardeners are employed in the landscape industry — as designers, estate gardeners and nurserymen. Others use the training to enhance their food production for home use, as well as for selling at farmers markets.
In West Hawaii, certified Master Gardener volunteers operate a weekly helpline at the Kona Extension Service office answering telephone requests for information by the gardening public. Volunteers are available every Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon at 322-4892. They can also receive and answer questions via email at konamg@ctahr.hawaii.edu or answer questions posed by those who walk in during helpline hours.
Certification program
All Master Gardener volunteer certification programs have three components: classroom and hands-on horticulture training; volunteer outreach; and ongoing continuing education. The requirements to become a certified West Hawaii Master Gardener include 45 hours of instruction (classes, workshops and field trips) and 40 hours of volunteerism. Classes are held at the Kona CES office in Kainaliu from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesdays.
The course topics include basic botany, native Hawaii plants, invasive species, tropical ornamental plants, plant nutrition, soil fertility and nutrient management, insect and plant disease management, plant propagation and pruning, food crops, organic gardening and diagnosing plant health problems.
After completing the classes, passing the tests and fulfilling the volunteer hours, a candidate is awarded a University of Hawaii Master Gardener Certificate. To maintain certification, Master Gardeners are required to donate 30 volunteer hours on the helpline, community outreach projects or other approved activities each year.
In addition to conducting monthly outreach activities at agricultural festivals, farmers markets and other events throughout the West Hawaii region, the area Master Gardeners association engages in a variety of activities. It also schedules field trips including visits to the Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary and tours of beekeeping and cacao/chocolate operations. Continuing education seminars bring members up-to-speed on important invasive pest issues such as problems posed by rat lungworm disease, little fire ant infestations, and rapid ohia death.
The 2016 volunteer training program is set to begin Jan. 26. The fee for the 15-class course is $150 in advance. Priority will be given to applications received by Nov. 30. Info: http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/UHMG/WestHI/index.asp, 322-4884 or tym@hawaii.edu.
Ty McDonald is a University of Hawaii Extension agent and Master Gardener Program coordinator.
Tropical gardening helpline
Celeste asks: I am growing vanilla for the first time this year. I pollinated the flowers and have watched the pods grow. I suspect they are ready to harvest. How do I know when exactly to harvest them?
Answer: Vanilla vines will usually flower in their second or third year of growth. Once pollinated, the flowers drop off and vanilla pods begin to form. In Hawaii, most of the flowering takes place in the early spring. Six to nine months later, the pods have reached their full length. Usually they begin to turn a lighter green color, sometimes with a tinge of yellow. Do not wait until the pods are fully yellow, however. When the pods are ready to come off they can be removed easily. If they don’t break off easily, leave them on the vine until they do.
Following harvest, a lengthy curing process that can take several months is required in order to get flavorful pods. It is a combination of drying and sweating and curing that is described in detail in several videos online.
Email plant questions to konamg@ctahr.hawaii.edu for answers by certified Master Gardeners. Some questions will be chosen for inclusion in this column.
Gardening events
Tuesday: Kona Coffee Farmers Association board meeting from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Univeristy of Hawaii Extension office in Kainaliu. Info: http://www.konacoffeefarmers.org.
Tuesday or Saturday: Planning a Commercial Kitchen begins at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday or 3 p.m. Saturday at Kona Pacific Public Charter School, 79-7595 Mamalahoa Highway in Kealakekua. The public is invited to help design this community commercial kitchen with friends of the school. Info: 895-0962, www.kppcs.org.
Farmers markets
Wednesday: Hooulu Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Sheraton Kona Resort &Spa at Keauhou Bay
Wednesday: Sunset Farmers Market, 2 p.m. to sunset at the north makai corner of the Kmart parking lot
Saturday: Keauhou Farmers Market, 8 a.m. to noon at Keauhou Shopping Center
Sunday: South Kona Green Market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook
Monday to Saturday: U-Pick greens and produce, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tropical Edibles Nursery in Captain Cook